This story begins with Sir John Cooper of Pawlett, a small village in Somerset, England. Sir John was born in 1552 in Pawlett, Somerset,...

The Allis family most likely had its origins in Alizay, Normandy, France, two hours northwest of Paris. Like several other ancestors, Sir...

While some Metcalf family members have tried to take the family tree back to the Norman Conquest in 1066, I will begin this story with...

Upon discovering the presence of Drakes in Dawn’s family tree, my mind immediately turned to the renowned Sir Francis Drake, the English...

This is a continuation of the Burdick story which I told last month. The Westerly, Rhode Island, ancestors are so intertwined with each...

According to Burdick family historians, Burdick may have initially been Burditt. Over the centuries, surname spelling was not exact, with...

England has 48 counties, also known as shires. Originally, England was run by various tribes whose boundaries were always in flux. When...

Christopher Avery was born in Cornwall County, England, in 1590. He is believed to be the son of Christopher and Joanna Avery of...

The Palmer surname probably originated from the Crusades when their ancestors traveled to the Holy Lands in the 1100s. When they...

Like several Cook family ancestors, it is believed the Bingham ancestors came to England as part of the Norman invasion in 1066, the last...

Richard Gale was born in 1618, but we do not know where he was born (we assume England) or who his parents were. Many have speculated...

This story is much shorter than most of my biographies, but Nathaniel Oak had some interesting experiences worth retelling. His origins...

This is a story I received from Marie (Miller) Howeth. How much do you know about Marie and her early years? I have some information,...

Note: For a century, it was believed that Thomas Dewey lived in Sandwich, Kent, England, before immigrating to America. However, things...

It is always fun to find evidence of the early ancestors today. In the case of John Randall, I found that his son's house still exists in...

The last two biographies discussed the Updike family. This biography continues with the biography of Richard Smith, husband of Catherine...

Lodowick OpDenDyck's son was yet another Gysbert (later called Gilbert). He was born in Wesel, baptized there on September 25, 1605, and...

My wife's eighth great-grandfather was Gijsbert Op Ten Dijck (Gilbert Updyke), who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1635. So before we uncover...

I have tracked my family back to the Viking kings, and most Norwegian Americans pride themselves if they can do it. But my wife’s...

I stumbled onto the story of Uncle Owen Fitzpen and thought I would tell it to the family in the context of the Phippen/Fitzpen family. I...